Here I will share with you the resources I've found useful during my process to adopt. This will evolve as I find more resources that I enjoy and find useful.
Websites:
Buckner Children's Home
Buckner is a wonderful adoption agency. They are licensed to handle international adoptions, domestic infant adoptions, foster care, and foster to adopt. Check out the website to see if there is an agency near you.
Adoption.com
Adoption.com is an awesome resource. They have resources for pregnant women, families looking to adopt and more. They also have several different blogs available for you to read. The blogs cover all forms of adoption, and offer personal stories to help you understand the process and how it works.
AdoptUSKids
This is another great place to start your search. They've got a lot of information about all the different kinds of adoption, and you can also look at pictures and profiles of current children available for adoption through social services.
Reading Materials:
Adoptive Families Magazine
I haven't subscribed to this magazine yet, but I love the website! They have great articles about the adoption process, post-adoption services and what to expect post-adoption, and so much more. This is an amazing place to go to feel connected to the rest of the adoptive community.
Raising Adopted Children
This is a book I downloaded to my Nook thinking if it was horrible that was fine, I could just delete it. It turned out to be a very good book to read. It discusses the different things you may run into with your adopted child, and tips and tricks to the entire adoption process and beyond. While I found myself skipping parts that were irrelevant to me such as international adoption and infant adoption, the parts that were more focused toward my specific situation were wonderful. I think this book would make a great starting point, and will help knock out some questions you may have, or didn't think you had until they were answered!
Adopting a Toddler
This is another Nook purchase for me. I had so many questions when I decided I wanted to adopt between the ages of 2 and 4. I've been around toddlers a lot before and I know how to play with them and speak to them and handle their temper tantrums, but there were so many more questions that couldn't be answered from dealing with my friends' toddlers. The questions revolved specifically around adopting a toddler, and while there were large chunks of this book that I completely skipped, I greatly enjoyed the parts that were relevant to my situation. The author adopted her child internationally, so she focuses more heavily on international adoption and there are several chapters dedicated to international adoption and what you will be likely to encounter during international adoption, but because I'm doing the foster to adopt program through social services, these chapters were irrelevant. If you can handle skipping entire sections of the book, then I think this is also a good choice for someone considering adopting a toddler.
Adopting on Your Own: The Complete Guide to Adopting as a Single Parent
I ordered this through Amazon, and as soon as it came in I started reading it. I absolutely love this book! It is modeled after an adoption workshop the author holds in the Boston area. I live in Texas, so it isn't practical for me to attend the workshop, but the book is set up just like the workshop, and covers everything the workshop covers. Each chapter has exercises for you to work through at home, and they offer great insight into why you want to adopt and much more. Not only is it a way to emotionally prepare yourself, and to help you make sure you are making the right decision for yourself, it offers great advice for all different forms of adoption, and much much more! Although it says it is for single parents (which is perfect for me because I will be a single parent) I think it would work well for families as well because it gives them a chance to sit down and really think about the process they are going through.
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